Fascinating food in New York and occasionally farther afield

Hua Ji Pork Chop Fast Food

By his accent, I gathered that the customer wearing chef's whites was raised south of the Mason-Dixon, likely, quite a ways south.

By the way he inquired after pig tails and peanuts ($5), the combo was an old favorite — one he could scarcely believe was on offer at this tiny Taiwanese-run joint. Since the fellow kept his own counsel, I never learned where he was from, how he'd homed in on Hua Ji, or what he made of the five-spice flavor, except from the way he dug in with gusto. So did I, on a return visit (that's my own order at top).